The present invention generally relates to gas chromatography, and specifically, to parallel gas chromatograph systems that can be integrated or used with parallel reactors for high-throughput (i.e., combinatorial) catalyst screening. The present invention also generally relates to microdetectors, and specifically, to microfabricated thermal conductivity detectors suitable for use in gas chromatography, flow detection, catalyst characterization, and other applications. The invention particularly relates, in a preferred embodiment, to parallel gas chromatograph systems with an array of microdetectors, such as microfabricated thermal conductivity detectors.
Gas chromatography, and in particular, multi-channel gas chromatography is known in the art. See, for example, PCT patent application WO 00/23734 (Daniel Industries, Inc.). Thermal conductivity detectors are also known in the art, and have been routinely used for detection in gas chromatographs alone, or in combination with other detectors. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,879 to Maeda et al., and Great Britain Patent Specification GB 1,262,529.
Combinatorial (i.e., high-throughput) catalysis is likewise known in the art. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,356 to Schultz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,617 to Schultz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,917 to Weinberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,297 to Weinberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,633 to Willson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,882 to Guan et al., and PCT applications WO 99/64160, WO 99/51980, WO 00/09255, WO 00/23921, WO 00/32308 and WO 00/51720 each of which patents and applications relates to various aspects of combinatorial materials science and combinatorial catalysis, and each of which (including corresponding US applications from which priority is claimed) is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Despite the considerable development in the art of gas chromatography to date, there remains a need for improved gas chromatographs to facilitate, among other applications, high-throughput screening of catalysts in parallel fashion—with simultaneous injection, separation and/or detection in multiple analysis channels. In particular, the current state of the art suffers from relatively bulky packaging, limited interchangeability of component parts, limited operational flexibilty and considerable manufacturing expense. Moreover, existing gas chromatographs are not readily integrated into reaction systems, and especially into smaller-scale reactors such as microreactors, for catalyst screening and/or process optimization.